The Indigenous Patient Experience (IPE) team walks alongside Indigenous (First Nations, Inuit, and Métis) patients and families to help provide culturally safe experiences by building respectful and equitable relationships within the health care system. The IPE team works in collaboration with key internal and external partners in health care and in the broader community to develop, implement, and evaluate processes that address Indigenous peoples’ experiences while accessing Northern Health’s services. In this article, we highlight and hear from IPE Advisor Patricia Hoard.
“I love supporting our people with their health care experiences,” says Patricia. “I enjoy giving them the ability to have a safe space to tell their story and being a part of the changes on how health care works with our people. Health work is in my blood. My great-grandfather was a medicine person, and I believe that need to support our people with their health comes from him.”
Advisors work to establish and cultivate culturally safe care and experiences. They listen and support Indigenous patients when they experience unsafe practices within Northern Health Authority's health care sites across Northern BC, and work to develop and build relationships with the Indigenous communities so that they have a clear understanding and feel supported to step up and put in a complaint when needed.
Patricia, a resident of Mackenzie, has been with Northern Health for just over a year and comes from a 20-year career in Health Director and Friendship Center Executive Director roles. A long-term resident of the North, Patricia loves the outdoors and being in nature, specifically the mountains and Morfee Lake, five minutes away from her home.
Patricia welcomes patients to reach out to the Indigenous Patient Experience team via their email at IndigenousPatientExperience@northernhealth.ca
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